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The Colour of Magic
Book Author: Terry Pratchett Illustrator: Josh Kirby Blurb: On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet... Plot: The story starts with the telling of the manner of the Discworld. The world itself is a flat disc that rests on the back of four giant elephants named Berilia, Tubul, Great T`Phon and Jerakeen, who in turn rest on the large shell of a giant World Turtle called Great A`Tuin who swims through space. On the Disc it is further known that the small kingdom of Krull has been sending teams of men over the Edge to look at the Turtle and the four Elephants and proved that they are real, but they do not know the gender of Great A`Tuin. Far away in the direction hubwards the most famous and oldest city on the Disc called Ankh-Morpork is burning. This burning is being watched by the city's most local heroes, Bravd the Hublander and his partner Weasel. They are joined shortly after by Rincewind (a failed wizard who had looked at the great spell book the Octavo and then flunked out of the Unseen University) and the Disc's first tourist Twoflower (who had passed out after falling off his horse which he failed to ride) and after them comes the Luggage (a walking suitcase that has half a mind of its own and has a homicidal attitude to anything threatening). Rincewind then explains to the two local heroes his story about how he had met Twoflower. Several days ago Twoflower had arrived from the Agatean Empire that is on the infamous Counterweight Continent. He has a large amount of gold (which makes various men try and rob him) that he thinks is not a lot of money. He attracts the attention of Blind Hugh who sends Cripple Wa to tell the two greatest thieves in Ankh-Morpork, Ymor and Strenhttp://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Stren_WithelWithel, and Hugh himself leads Twoflower to the Broken Drum, a local inn owned by Broadman. Twoflower pays for his room (using more money than the inn and staff are worth) and is followed in by the Luggage which gets Rincewinds attention because it is made of sapient pearwood. Speaking in Trobi, Rincewind and Twoflower talk to each other while Broadman runs to an Alchemist to check the gold coins that Twoflower had given him. The Alchemist says that it is 'technically false coinage' (local coins contain less gold then seawater). Word soon spread that a large amount of gold had entered Ankh-Morpork and various thieves start to come together. Back at the Broken Drum, Rincewind has been hired to be a guide to Twoflower but after receiving pay he runs off. Buying a horse Rincewind tries to leave the city but his horse was shot. The Patrician tells Rincewind that he will spare his life if Rincewind will keep guiding Twoflower and keep him from getting in trouble or killed. Going back Rincewind rescues Twoflower from a tavern fight and head out to 'look' at the city, taking pictures with the Iconograph. Soon the two find themselves separated and Rincewind is almost killed by Withel but he escapes. The Patrician meets the master of the Assassins Guild to kill Twoflower (if men found out about the large amount of gold in the Counterweight Continent they would all be rich and the system would not work). Rincewind backtracks to the Broken Drum to find that the Thieves, Assassins, and the newly created Guild of Merchants all want Twoflower, who is currently selling Broadman In-sewer-ants (Insurance). The three groups start to fight with each other. The gutter wizard Rincewind meanwhile has an unexpected (which is usually unexpected) meeting with Death who offers him a horse. Refusing, Rincewind rescues Twoflower from the fight while Broadman sets fire to the inn to get the money from the In-sewer-ants and is offered a match by a hollow voiced stranger (Death, and you know what happens next). Of course the fire becomes a large fire ball that sets fire to those parts of Ankh-Morpork which are flammable (most of them) hence finishing the backstory. We now learn that the events taking place are controlled in a board game played by The Gods and Rincewind and Twoflower are controlled by The Lady and are trying to be killed by Fate. He brings forth the most impossible piece: the Sender of Eight, Bel-Shamharoth. Rincewind is now hanging from a branch (with a snake wrapped on it and under a wasp nest) and is hanging from a pack of wolves. Death again tries to claim him but Rincewind knocks the wasp nest down by accident. Safe, Rincewind is taken prisoner by the tree nymph for breaking a branch, he of course has a lucky braek and is able to instantly get to Twoflower. They meet Hrun the Barbarian and banish the Sender of Eight, causing Fate to lose the game, and the three of them go to the Wyrmberg, an upsidedown mountain filled with dragons. Twoflower thinks of a dragon and ones pops up in front of him while Hrun is offered to become a King by Liessa the princess. Leaving Hrun behind. Rincewind and Twoflower use Twoflower's dragon to escape but flying too far away from the Wyrmburg the dragon fades and they drop out of the air. For a moment or two they are transported to Roundworls until the Luggage leaps in and they fall into the Discworld sea near the Edge. They are rescued on the Circumfence (a fence that wraps around the Edge) and meet a water troll from another world and then are transported to Krull to be sacrificed to the god Fate while Fate himself confirms the up-coming deaths of Rincewind and Twoflower. They escape their jail with help from the Lady and get into two space suits so they would not be sacrificed. As they are next to the Potent Voyager that is about to be sent over the Edge the Luggage comes in wrapped in seaweed which gets the attention of everyone who figured out that Rincewind and Twoflower are imposters. Twoflower starts to climb in and Rincewind starts to climb in after him but then the Voyager starts to slide down. Desperately a group of men come up and try and stop the Voyager but that only makes Twoflower fall into the cabin below and the latch locks behind him leaving Rincewind outside. Then '...sparkling like a salmon, Voyager dropped into the sky and over the Edge. A few seconds later there came a thunder of little feet and the Luggage cleared the rim of the world, legs still pumping determinedly, and plunged down into the universe.' Rincewind safely lands on a tree on the very Edge and is confronted by Death again, but Rincewind points out that he hasn`t broken anything and is still alive. Death turns out to be a small demon Scrofula and Rincewind argues with him and, just as the demon is about to kill him, the tree gives way. Rincewind starts to fall off the Disc and then clearing the planet he falls, and falls, and falls.... Category:Book